Sometimes Risk Is Called For

July 7, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Jane Juska has been on my mind all week. At sixty-six, the divorced, mother of one, decided it was time to reclaim her sexuality, so she posted an ad in The New York Review of Books: Before I turn 67 – next March – I would like to have a lot of sex with a […]

Blessing of Serenity

July 4, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Settling in a small town, especially a senior’s community, is not something I would have ever envisioned, and yet; here we are. Funny how life works like that, and thank goodness it does. I appreciate this place that we have landed more and more each day. It has not been without difficulty, this move away […]

Lessons in Acceptance

May 28, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

When my eldest sister was diagnosed with acute leukaemia and given a month to a year to live, I had to scramble to be there for her. You see, I was deathly afraid of hospitals, and almost fainted the day she had her spinal tap. I had to find a way to conquer my phobias […]

Nature’s Balm

May 7, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Questions flood in as evening sets, the initial shock of hearing the ‘c’ word now wearing off. I sleep little, spending way too much time with Dr. Google, without any satisfaction. Ric is scheduled to go into town a bit later, so I take the car early and head to a new trail in our […]

In The Maze

February 14, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

I read once that when obstacles present themselves, it means you are on the right path. I think it was Caroline Myss. Of course, I’m paraphrasing, and from memory at that. What’s important is my takeaway. Life isn’t meant to be easy. It is meant to challenge and encourage growth, just as the gardener who […]

Of Pelicans and Life

February 7, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

Ric spots them first – an almost endless line of birds heading our way. American White pelicans! They gather as a group just above where we are stalled, waiting for the ferry, and circle the area before continuing their journey. As one group leaves, another follows in a seemingly endless stream. “There must be thousands!” […]

Bedside Conversations

January 8, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

“Mom, I want you to know that I don’t harbour any ill will toward our past. If I seek to know what happened, it is only to understand myself so that I might heal.” Mom nods, considers my words. “There is so much I could have done differently.” “No. You did what you could with […]

And So, We Turn the Page

January 6, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Years gather as links in a chain, some unremarkable, some adorned with jewels, and some bearing the marks of hardship. 2018, for me, would have an arrow shaped charm, pointing upwards, as this year heralded many firsts – a rebirth of sorts. For 2019, I pray to keep the momentum rolling – that I will […]

Shake Ups

January 5, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

The new year grabbed me in a choke hold and hog-tied me before I had a chance to even think about what it might bring. It started with a text that my mother was in hospital, followed by a harried searching of flights and anxious speculating about how I’ll get home. Me, who hasn’t ventured […]

Plans Change

January 3, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

‘Transition’ is the focus of my challenge this week. At the time of composing, I thought I would be reviewing last year’s lessons and gifts and preparing myself to greet the new. Life, of course, seldom fits into our neatly packaged plans. As I write this, I’m sitting in a hotel room, with my alarm […]

Wild

I am wild horseforest dwellercare not for civilitynor staged antics Can I behave?Not if reigned in –spirit, unharnessedattuned to grace. (Art my own)

Mature Love (haiku)

A Question by Robert Frost

“A voice said, Look me in the starsAnd tell me truly, men of earth,If all the soul-and-body scarsWere not too much to pay for birth.” Effort, it seems to me, is what makes gain so sweet. Moving has stretched us beyond what we thought we were capable of, but never have we doubted our purpose. […]